


Oneirophrenia

by junglec0re



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Horror, Alternate Universe - Orphanage, F/F, Minor Character Death, Parent Death, Strained Relationships, Unrequited Love, a peter pan/wicked/alice in wonderland hybrid mash up thing, bora is the antagonist in this, i'm sorry i love her i swear :(
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-01-15 21:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12328791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junglec0re/pseuds/junglec0re
Summary: "Oneirophrenia - (from the Greek words "ὄνειρος" (oneiros, "dream") and "φρενός" (phrenos, "mind")) is a hallucinatory, dream-like state caused by several conditions such as prolonged sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, or drugs."It's been four years since Kim Yoohyeon's parents died, leaving her and her two sisters, Yoobin and Gahyeon, in the care of an orphanage in Paris, France. And though the orphanage gave her structure and balance in a time when she had nothing, she dreamed of getting away. So when a woman who called herself Siyeon came to her one night promising adventure in a place called Dreamworld, she says yes, also taking her two sisters with her. But when Yoobin and Gahyeon are kidnapped by a witch with a grudge, she quickly realizes Dreamworld is not all fairy tales and happiness.Because of course, where there are dreams, there are also nightmares.





	1. One

The painting wasn’t what Yoohyeon would usually find at at the town market, but that’s exactly what enthralled her about it. Most of the paintings sold here were of boring living room scenery, which would usually get hung up in someone’s boring living room, so what was the point? It didn’t make sense.

 

This painting wasn’t anything close to living room scenery. It depicted a wrought iron black gate with intricate swirls connecting each bar of the gate and a swirl pattern on top that reminded Yoohyeon of goat antlers. Next to the gate on each side were bushes, but instead of the traditional green, the leaves were white with a silver undertone - like a pearl - and flowers of each color of the rainbow decorating them. Beside the gate and in front of the bushes stood a tree, painted with hard, distinct strokes to enunciate the roughness of the bark with branches that whirled and curled, resembling brown snakes, and leaves that were too a silvery white. It was nighttime in it, so the moon was hanging high in the sky, giving the iron gates the faintest glint of shine, all set on a background of dark blue.

 

She wanted to jump into it and explore it, see what was behind those gates and escape reality for a few hours. It was something mystical, something Yoohyeon would fantasize about in her imagination, or hear in the tales her father used to tell her when she was a little girl to help her sleep.

 

Sadly, she smiled to herself. Maybe that’s what was so enchanting about it. It reminded her of a time when she was happier.

 

The painting belonged in a museum, to be admired by others who would appreciate it. Definitely not on the dull, dreary streets of the town market. It was almost a crime for something so magnificent to be surrounded by something so…not.

 

The town market, in Yoohyeon’s honest opinion, was a mind-numbingly uneventful place. The streets were lined with lackluster cobblestones, and there wasn’t a single speck of nature anywhere. Not a tree, not a bush, not even a tuft of grass that managed to fight it’s way through the stones. Just brick and rock, and the busy bodies that passed by her every second, some of them even bumping into her and not even bothering to apologize.

 

Still, it’s better than being back at the orphanage, where she’d be forced to do chores when she would much rather just stare at the mountain view outside of the bedroom window all day. She appreciated the time Madame Dansky allowed her and her sisters, Yoobin and Gahyeon, along with the other girls to have outside of the orphanage.

 

“The fresh air is good for you.” she always said.

 

The sun was still high in the sky, meaning it wasn’t anywhere near curfew so Yoohyeon continues admiring the painting for a little while longer. The sounds around her fade into white noise in the background as she lets her imagination run wild about what could be behind the gate. Maybe it was a village of elves. Or even better, a village of fairies! Maybe even with centaurs and, oh! A lake so deep she couldn’t see the bottom, with mermaids that sung with voices like wind chimes.

 

The wind blew, and Yoohyeon might have imagined it but she swears she saw the leaves on the bushes and the trees blow with it. She looked closer, and something caught her eye that she hadn’t noticed before; a silhouette of what looks like a person, specifically a woman, in between two of the iron bars. She faced sideways, looking up at the moon but then Yoohyeon blinked and the silhouette changed. She didn't appear to be looking at the moon anymore, but looking forward. Looking at her.

 

“Yoohyeon!”

 

She jumped at the mention of her name, quickly turning around to see her younger sister, Yoobin, bundled in her scarf, hat and coat to protect from the February chill, staring at her incredulously.

 

“It’s about to get dark, and you know how Madame Dansky hates it when we’re late for curfew. I don’t want to do extra chores again.”

 

“Yoobin relax, we have plenty of ti-” Yoohyeon started, but one look towards the sky told her Yoobin was right. The sun was peaking just over the buildings lining the street, the sky bleeding into orange, pink and purple. She crinkles her eyes. Just how long had she been staring at the painting?

 

“So as you can see,” Yoobin said, “we actually don’t have time, and we need to hurry up and find Gahyeon if we don’t wanna be scrubbing toilets.”

 

Yoohyeon’s eyes widened. “Wait, where is Gahyeon?” she asked, looking around for their youngest sister only to see she was no where in sight.

 

“Oh, I couldn’t pull her away from the pet place. She’s probably still there-”

 

“You left her alone?!” she practically shouted, roughly pushing past her in the direction of the pet place. She heard Yoobin mutter “So now she moves,” under her breath, but ignored it. She’d reprimand her for it later, right now she needed to find Gahyeon.

 

Yoohyeon, being seventeen, was old enough to take care of herself. Yoobin was fifteen, but she’s always been a strong willed and independent girl. At least that’s what their parents always said. Yoohyeon preferred the word ‘stubborn.’

 

But Gahyeon was still young. She had only just turned thirteen last week, still childlike and innocent in the way she carried herself. And naive. Still too trusting.

 

Yoohyeon stormed through the mass of bodies as Yoobin trailed behind her until she finally finds their youngest sister, still by the pet place as Yoobin had said, but there was a tall bald man standing next to her. His back was to her, so Yoohyeon couldn’t see his face but she could see Gahyeon staring up at him with big eyes, clutching her rabbit plushie to her chest, seemingly listening to whatever the man was telling her.

 

Cautiously, so to not make a scene, Yoohyeon approached slowly. Yoobin followed close behind her, sensing the situation and not uttering a word, only getting close enough so they were within earshot.

 

“-dogs? You seem like a little girl who likes dogs, am I right?”

 

“Yeah, I like dogs, but I love bunnies the best,” Gahyeon answered, gesturing to the plushie in her arms. “I like the way their noses scrunch up when they eat.” And then she mimicked a rabbit eating. The bald man lets out a dark chuckle that sent shivers down Yoohyeon’s spine.

 

“Well isn’t it your lucky day then,” he said. “I have rabbits back at my home. It’s only a few blocks away, I can show you them if you come with me.”

 

Gahyeon’s face lights up. “Okay!”

 

“No!” Yoohyeon and Yoobin both shouted, running toward them. Yoohyeon reaches them first, immediately grabbing Gahyeon and clutching her to her side. Yoobin, at her side, stares at the man with daggers in her eyes.

 

“We have to go home now, Gahyeon,” Yoohyeon said.

 

“But I wanna see the bunnies!” Gahyeon protested.

 

“You can see bunnies another time, Gahyeon. Right now we need to go home.” Yoohyeon pulled her sister away despite her pouts, her heels clicking angrily against the cobblestones, and Yoobin shoots the man one more dark look before falling in line behind them.

 

“Gahyeon, how many times have I told you not to talk to strangers?” she asked harshly when they’re about a block from the orphanage, completely out of the man’s line of sight.

 

“But he was nice!” Gahyeon insisted. “And he had bunnies.”

 

“Gahyeon,” Yoohyeon sighed and stopped in her tracks, pulling her into the nook of an alleyway between two apartment buildings and kneels down to her sister’s level. “Gahyeon, there were no bunnies.”

 

Gahyeon blinked, confused. “But he said so. Why would he lie?”

 

“Because sometimes people lie to us because they want to hurt us, sweetie.”

 

“He…He wanted to hurt me?”

 

Grimly, Yoohyeon nods.

 

“So don’t go talking to any more strange men that you don’t know, okay? And you,” she added, turning fiercely to Yoobin, who snaps her head up with raised eyebrows.

 

“What about me?” she challenged.

 

“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t left her alone.”

 

Yoobin blanked. “Because I was looking for __you,__ trying to make sure __you__ didn’t get in trouble.”

 

“Don’t try to deflect this back to me,” Yoohyeon responded sternly. “ _ _I__ can handle myself. Gahyeon is a little girl.”

 

“And if you hadn’t noticed that the sky had gone completely black and you ended up stumbling up the front steps way past curfew what would your excuse have been then? ‘I’m sorry Madam Dansky, I lost track of time staring at a painting.’ That would’ve went over really well.”

 

Yoohyeon straightened to her feet and marched over to her younger sister. “Look, Yoobin, I am the oldest, meaning it’s my responsibility to look after you two, __not__ the other way around.”

 

“Mom and dad said it was __all__ of our jobs to look after each other.”

 

“Well mom and dad aren’t here anymore!”

 

Yoobin visibly clenched her jaw. Her arms crossed her chest and she looked down and away. Yoohyeon sighed guiltily, knowing she went too far, but when she steps toward Yoobin to try to comfort her, she steps away.

 

A whimper pulled them out of the argument. Both girls snapped their heads in the direction of it, remembering Gahyeon who was still standing at the edge of the alleyway, now nervously playing with the ears of her bunny plushie - something she only did when she was scared.

 

Yoohyeon pressed her lips into a tight line. “Let’s just go,” she said, taking Gahyeon by the hand and pulling her to the direction of the orphanage. Yoobin followed behind them, albeit distantly by the clack of her heels. Yoohyeon sighs inwardly once more. She’ll talk to her once she’s cooled down.

 

 

 

 

“And the dishes are all clean?” Madame Dansky asked the room of girls, looking pointedly at each of them sat in their bunk beds that lined the walls. She was a round woman, and exceptionally tall, standing at a slightly intimidating 178cm. She was adorned in a lavish looking beige robe decorated in red paisley with a fur trim. Her hair was in curlers, and a pink sleeping mask rested atop her forehead.

 

“Yes, Madame Dansky,” they all echoed back.

 

“And the bathrooms are spotless?” she asked, turning her attention to Yoohyeon’s bunk. She was in the last one in the back, on the top bunk near the giant window that took up most of the back wall, so at night she could watch the moon and the stars. Gahyeon was in the bunk under her, clutching her plushie under the sheets. Yoobin was usually in the bottom bunk next to them, but tonight she switched with Brielle, who’s bed was closer to the front of the room.

 

“Yes, Madame Dansky,” they replied once more, and so forth until Madame Dansky was done listing through the house chores.

 

“Well, since everything is done, and you have half an hour until lights out, I don’t see why you can’t spend this last half hour enjoying yourselves. But!-” she quickly amended when the room broke out in rambunctious cheers, “Those lights need to be off exactly at 10pm, am I clear?”

 

“Yes Madam Dansky,” the girls replied one more time.

 

A smile stretches across Madame Dansky’s lips. “I’ve taught you well. Goodnight girls,” she said with a wave of her hand and leaves, her robe trailing against the floor behind her.

 

Inside the lights were kept on, casting the room in a warm yellow, but outside it was pitch black save for the lanterns that lit the roads below, and the moon. It was a crescent tonight, waning, and tilted at an angle where Yoohyeon would say it almost looked like a smile. This is where her attention was while the younger girls quickly began rummaging through the toy box and the older ones gathered to one bed to gossip. In the reflection of the window, Yoohyeon could see Yoobin still on her bunk, curled up with a book now in hand.

 

Yoobin was never one to interact too heavily with other people. Even before their parents died, she kept walls up, didn’t let anybody get too close. When they were younger she would always reject Yoohyeon’s invitations to play with her, preferring to stay inside and read much like she was doing right now. Yoohyeon didn’t understand it. There was so much to do, so much world to explore. Who wants to read about people having adventures when you could go out and experience your own?

 

Yoohyeon tucked the thought away and refocused on the moon. It was a bit cloudy out, and the clouds threw shadows on the moon. In certain shadows it looked like someone was sitting on it, followed by a twinkling when the illusion disappeared. She wondered what it would be like to be on the moon, being able to jump so high she was almost flying.

 

“Yoohyeonie?”

 

Yoohyeon turned her head to see Gahyeon in her white nightgown looking up at her from the bottom bunk, and crinkled her eyebrows. She would have thought she would playing with the other girls.

 

“What is it, honey?”

 

Gahyeon stroked the ears of her plushie. “Can I come up?”

 

“Of course you can,” Yoohyeon answered, patting the spot next to her and Gahyeon began her climb up the bunk stairs. When she reaches the top, Yoohyeon threw an arm around her shoulder. “What’s up, kid?”

 

Gahyeon took her time answering. “Do you hate Yoobin?”

 

Yoohyeon almost fell off the bed. “What?!” she yelled, making the room fall silent as the other girls turned their heads to her in unison. From across the room, Yoobin raised an eyebrow. Yoohyeon turned her head to hide her blush, and a moment later everyone returns to their business.

 

She awkwardly cleared her throat. “I don’t - I don’t hate Yoobin, sweetie. I love our sister very much, what made you think that?”

 

“You guys fight a lot,” Gahyeon pouted, “so I just, I thought-”

 

“Oh Gahyeon,” Yoohyeon’s voice softened to a whisper as she pulled her sister into a hug, “I could never hate either of you. Yoobin and I, we just - we don’t always see things the same way. We’re very…different. But I don’t hate her.”

 

Gahyeon nervously plays with the ears of her bunny again. “And it has nothing to do with mom and dad?”

 

Yoohyeon stiffened.

 

“...No. We’ve been like this since before…what happened. And I don’t blame her for it.”

 

It was incredibly difficult to keep the waver out of her voice. She did feel resentment towards Yoobin at one point, in the initial aftermath of it all but she hadn't felt that way in a long time. She was young and grief stricken, needed someone to blame and well, Yoobin was the obvious choice. But as she grew older and the grief began to fade she realized it wasn’t Yoobin’s fault, that it was nobody's fault except the person that killed them.

 

“So quit worrying, okay? Unless you want wrinkles by the time you’re my age.”

 

“Ew, I don’t want wrinkles,” Gahyeon giggled.

 

“Good,” Yoohyeon giggled with her. “They don’t look good on thirteen year olds.”

 

Gahyeon gave her one last hug before she climbed down the bunk ladder. Yoohyeon watched her go, and when she looked back up she noticed Yoobin looking in her direction. She offers her a smile just as the clock on the wall dings for 10pm.

 

An older girl named Lily hopped off the bed the rest were gathered around and flicked the switch by the door, so the only light coming in the room was from the moon through the expanse of the window, illuminating it in an off white.

 

Yoohyeon tucked herself under the sheets, and falls asleep counting the stars.

 

 

 

She’s standing in front of a gate. It’s wrought iron and black, with swirls connecting each bar of the gate to the next. At the top center, the bars twist around each other in a way that reminds her of-

 

She gasped.

 

Quickly, she turned her head to the side, and sure enough there was a tree taller than she’d ever seen with branches that twisted like snakes, and bushes with leaves colored an off white, with silvery undertones. Like a pearl.

 

It was just like the painting from the town market. She was in the painting.

 

The sky was just as dark as it was the painting, and the moon was just as full and bright, shining on the leaves and making them shimmer. Curious, Yoohyeon walked toward them and guided her finger along the edge of one until it stung, and she quickly ripped her finger away. When she examined it, there was an incision along her pointer finger, and beads of blood were seeping out of it.

 

Slowly, she backed away from the bushes toward the gate. These were obviously no ordinary leaves, but she still thought it impossible for something so soft and flimsy to be so sharp. A cold breeze came through, raising goosebumps on the bare skin of her arms and sending a shiver up her spine. The breeze passed, but the cold air around her stayed. She felt something ominous and heavy behind her, but every time she turned around to look, there was no one there. A bad feeling settled in her gut.

 

Hands on her arms, she stared up at the gate again. Another breeze came through, blowing her hair into her face, and that’s when she hears it.

 

“Open it.”

 

Barely a whisper, so soft she almost missed it. She wanted to turn around, but something stopped her from doing so. Everytime she thought about it she suddenly lost her nerve.

 

“Open it,” the voice said again, a breath tickling the shell of Yoohyeon’s ear, and this time she could tell it was feminine. Whatever was stopping her from turning around was the same thing that had her lifting her arm to the lock. She felt almost out of control of her body, but she’d also never felt more sure about anything in her life. She needed to know what was on the other side of this gate.

 

Holding her breath, she inched closer to the lock until her fingers grazed the metal-

 

Her eyes flew open. On her face, the sun was shining brightly through the window and directly into her eyes. She scrunched her nose. This was the one con about sleeping by the window.

 

In the room, most of the other girls are already awake, some of them missing but Yoohyeon guessed they were already in the washrooms. Yoohyeon saw Gahyeon on Yoobin’s bed, both of them awake and Yoobin reading her book to her. Yoohyeon smiled to herself.

 

With a groan, she sat up and stretched her arms above her head, twisting her head around to get the cricks out of her neck. She went to rub the sleep out of her eyes next but paused when she felt something wet on her forehead. Puzzled, she pulled her hand away and her eyes widened as her mouth hung open and her whole body went stiff. A familiar chill traveled up her spine.

 

Blood.

 

Her finger was cut.

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uh.... *clears throat* i can explain. but i'll explain in the notes below just read the damn thing

The tile against Yoohyeon’s back is cold, piercing through the thin fabric of her shirt as she leaned against it and let out a huff, dropping the sponge out of her gloved hand.

 

Cleaning the bathrooms was the worst chore in the house because it was never complete. And it smelled no matter how many candles were lit. Living in a house with 17 other girls in that sense was not ideal. Not that she hates them, no, she’s come to think of the other girls as sisters in the same way Yoobin and Gahyeon were, she just wishes they wouldn’t leave their feminine hygiene products by the toilet when they missed the trash.

 

Roughly, she yanked her gloves off and goes to rinse them of any chemical in the bathroom sink, careful to avoid her band-aid that adorned her right pointer finger.

 

She could stop thinking about it as she was washing the bathrooms and her hands were gloved, but now that it’s back in plain sight she can’t stop flitting her eyes to it. She’s spent all morning trying to rationalize it, but couldn’t settle concretely on any single explanation. She couldn’t say she cut it in her sleep, as there was nothing to cut her finger on. The wood on her bed frame has no chipped pieces - she checked - and her arms, though long and lanky, were still too short to reach the glass of the window, and she didn’t keep her fingernails long.

 

She also couldn’t say she cut her finger before going to sleep. She would have felt it before drifting, and it would have been scabbed over by the morning, not still dripping blood as if it were fresh.

 

The whole thing gave her a proper headache.

 

Gloves in hands, she exited the bathroom and makes her way through the dull, drab brown and beige of the living room and into the kitchen, decorated in the same brown and beige colors. Brown in the curtains, beige on the counters. White for almost everything else. Dull.

 

It was much like the houses of her childhood friends back in South Korea. There was a standard to be met, a standard that evidently followed her everywhere she went. A standard that left her feeling stiff and suffocated.

 

Her parents’ house, if her memory served her correctly, was a plethora of colors. The curtains that hung at the windows were a sunflower yellow, casting yellow shadows across the walls whenever the sun shone through, and turning parts of the sea blue fridge green. They had purple sofas and a fluffy red carpet, and really, nothing about it should have worked. But that’s what she loved about it. She loved that nothing made sense, and took a secret pleasure in the fact that in her daily routine of going to school, doing homework, and going to bed, day in and day trying to be the most well behaved, the most prim and proper, trying to adhere to a standard that had been forced on her since the day she was born, that she could have something that would bend the rules.

 

“No matter what,” her father would always say to her, “No one can take away your mind. No one can take away your imagination. You’ll always have that.”

 

Unfortunately, Yoohyeon felt like her imagination was slipping further and further away with each passing day. In an orphanage, there was no one to fuel it, and it’s not to take a jab at Madame Dansky, because despite all her rules and policies, Yoohyeon had grown to love her. When she, Yoobin and Gahyeon showed up on her doorstep with members of the South Korean embassy, she had welcomed them all with open arms. She was the one that helped teach them French and English, and it was because of her that none of them ever wanted for food or clothes, and made sure they were well mannered and objectively happy. But she didn’t have yellow curtains or a red carpet. She didn’t tell her stories about fairies and witches and mermaids at night to help her sleep. She didn’t pat her on the head and tell her that she wasn’t weird or stupid, she was special. She wasn’t her mom, and she wasn’t her dad. She just wasn’t.

 

Yoohyeon put the chemicals under the sink and made her way back to the living room. Lily was sweeping the wooden floorboards while Chrisette dusted the windowsills. Yoobin was on the couch, shoulder-length hair falling over her face with her nose in a book as she usually was. Gahyeon was nowhere to be found, probably in the playroom with some of the younger girls still, the perfect opportunity to smooth things over with her first younger sister.

 

They hadn’t talked since last night, and they’ve been tiptoeing around each other all morning and afternoon, and Yoohyeon was just about sick of it. But Yoobin’s sometimes unpredictable temper had her walking slowly, so to not set her off in a way that only Yoohyeon seems to know how. She gently sat down next to her, but Yoobin didn’t even spare her a glance.

 

Yoohyeon internally sighed. Still as stubborn as always.

 

“Binnie,” she started.

 

Yoobin only raised her eyebrows in acknowledgment. Yoohyeon didn’t let it deter her.

 

“About yesterday-”

 

“What about it?” Yoobin cuts her off, tone clipped.

 

Yoohyeon pressed her lips into a hard line.

 

“You understand why I was upset, right?”

 

At this, Yoobin finally closed her book and looked Yoohyeon in the eyes. Her expression was always so serious. Even as little girls, people would often mistake Yoobin for the older one (even though Yoohyeon was much taller than her) because her face was more mature. Her eyes held wisdom, and although the course their life had taken had definitely aged them they had been that way for as long as Yoohyeon could remember. Eyes that had seen things well beyond their years, much like their mothers.

 

“I do,” is all she said.

 

Yoohyeon shifted uncomfortably. “So, you understand that I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was personally attacking you. I was just worried about Gahyeon, and I need you to understand that when it comes down to it she’s the priority. Not me. I don’t need you to take care of me.”

 

Yoobin titled her head, tongue peeking out as if she wanted to say something, however after some minutes of silence, instead of putting up a fight like Yoohyeon was expecting, all she said was “Okay.”

 

“Okay?”

 

“Yeah, okay.” Yoobin reopened her book and went back to reading.

 

Yoohyeon stayed put, unsure if she should walk away or press the issue. The conversation felt unfinished, but Yoobin giving her a perplexed look and asking, “Was there something else you wanted to say?” had her thinking maybe it was another conversation for another time. Yoohyeon stood slowly and walked away, unable to shake the empty feeling of her sister becoming even more of a distant mystery.

 

 

 

The sun was still high in the sky in the hour before dinner, so the girls took to the garden, the perfect place for an impromptu game of blind man’s bluff. It was expansive, the lush green grass going on for yards and yards. Trees and bushes sprouted up haphazardly across the garden, and a pinwheel that served no purpose anymore was planted into the ground, with a picnic table a few steps away.

 

There was forest some 300 feet away as well, with paths leading into it sat at the edge, but they were prohibited from going there.

 

Yoohyeon was currently sat behind a tree, occasionally peeking out to see Brielle bumbling around with the scarf tied around her eyes while the other girls from their hiding spots giggled.

 

“Over here!” Lily patronizingly shouted. Brielle followed her noise, tripping slightly on a loose shrub until she got close. Lily cleverly dipped out of the way when she got close, just as Chrisette snuck up behind Brielle and clapped her hands loudly at her ears. Brielle whips around with great speed, but not quick enough to catch Chrisette, who narrowly missed what would have been a good smack across the face.

 

“Stop it! That’s not fair!” Brielle loudly protested, causing an uproar of giggles from the other girls including Yoohyeon, who was still perched behind her tree.

 

“There’s no such thing as fair in blind man’s bluff,” Chrisette retorted.

 

Brielle put on an amusing display of huffing and stomping her foot in response before ripping the scarf off her eyes. “We need to talk about the rules.”

 

“What?” Lily’s high-pitched yell came from behind the pinwheel. “Come on Bri, you’re being dramatic. It’s all in good fun.”

 

“No, we need to talk about what’s allowed and what isn’t because I really don’t think that’s fair.”

 

Chrisette walked over to them, speaking her piece on the subject as well and soon they’ve all fell into an argument among themselves. Yoohyeon stayed perched behind her tree, never one for arguments. Arguing with Yoobin was enough for her.

 

She watched them in thinly veiled amusement for a while, until something pink and sparkly fluttered in her peripheral vision. Almost involuntarily she turned her head and caught what appeared to be a small, sparkly orb floating in the openness of the garden.

 

She turned back to the others, but they were too busy being immersed in their conversation to notice the curious pink orb.

 

Yoohyeon turned back, and it was drifting away now to the other side of the garden, stopping right at one of the pathways of the forest before disappearing behind one of the trees. Something in Yoohyeon made her lurch forward, so hard she had to put her hands in front of her to stop herself from face-planting into the dirt. There was a cool breath against her ear, and underneath the current were words that sounded a lot like _follow me._

Heart in her throat, she quickly glanced behind her, thinking maybe one of the girls had caught her spacing out and decided to play a trick on her but they were all still between the pinwheel and the picnic bench arguing the technicalities of blind man’s bluff.

 

Yoohyeon bit down on her lip and turned her head back to the forest, an inkling of an idea at the forefront of her brain. She knew the forest was prohibited, but the girls were so wrapped in themselves, surely, they wouldn’t notice if she was gone for a few minutes. At least that’s what she told herself as she got to her feet as quietly as she could and tiptoed quickly to the other end of the garden.

 

The closer she to the forest, the harder her heart hammered in her chest. Yoohyeon always thought of herself as a good girl – well behaved and well mannered - so this was new territory for her. As her skin buzzed with nervousness and excitement to the tips of her fingers and toes, she spared one glance at the other girls, still none the wiser to what she was about to do, and turned back to the inviting green mystery, stepping along the path and into the forest.

 

 

 

Yoobin couldn’t focus.

 

She looked down at the book in her lap laying open and forgotten. Not because Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland didn’t intrigue her, no. She was incredibly curious to see what nonsensical thing Alice would encounter next, but she hadn’t been able to concentrate much on anything since her conversation with Yoohyeon earlier. Even Madame Dansky had shown some concern when she caught her sitting on the couch simply staring off at nothing.

 

Now she was in their shared bedroom alone – initially so she could read in peace – but her thoughts still couldn’t stop drifting to her older sister, wondering how someone she loved so dearly could also drive her almost as mad as the Mad Hatter.

 

They’ve had a rocky relationship for as long as Yoobin could remember. As little girls they would butt heads over everything: what game they wanted to play, who got the last slice of cake, etc. Name it and they’ve probably fought over it. And that butting heads followed them into their teen years, but despite Yoohyeon’s beliefs, Yoobin would plead her case that it wasn’t her fault.

 

Yes, Yoohyeon was the oldest, but in Yoobin’s honest opinion she never acted like it. She was very bubbly – not that that was a bad thing, but it often meant she was lost in her own world. And Yoobin – poor, poor Yoobin - would always be the one to snap her out of it and then get the same speech she’s been getting for years. _“I’m the eldest, Yoobin. I don’t need you to look after me.”_

Wash, rinse, repeat. It was exhausting, but Yoohyeon was her sister, and she loved her. Someone had to look after her if she refused to look after herself.

 

Resigned to believe that she wouldn’t be reading any more about white rabbits or dancing cards for the rest of the day, Yoobin sighed and closed the book in her lap. She wandered through the orphanage to the library, dog-earring the page before putting it back on the shelf, dust billowing from them and making her eyes water. She made a mental note to dust this place tomorrow before lunch.

 

The late afternoon sun shone through the window on the east wall, making the mahogany of the tables and chairs appear even richer in color, and throwing tall shadows across the room. Yoobin walks over to it, gazing out the window down the backyard garden where the older girls were still playing their game of blind man’s bluff. From where she was standing she could see Yoohyeon perched behind a tree, Lily, and Chrisette standing off to the side and Brielle with the scarf around her eyes throwing the biggest tantrum known to man.

 

Brielle took the scarf off her eyes, and Chrisette, wildly flailing her arms and Chrisette and Lily march over to her, clearly exasperated. Yoobin hadn’t a clue what they were talking about and didn’t particularly care, so she turned to exit the library until a movement from below caught her eye. So, she turned back, and her eyes immediately bug out of her head.

 

Because Yoohyeon was walking toward the forest, which was strictly prohibited.

 

Without a moment’s hesitation, she ran out of the room, almost tripping down the numerous flights of stairs, and doesn’t stop until she bursts through the door that leads to the backyard garden, storming right passed the three that were apparently still too busy arguing among themselves to realize Yoohyeon was gone.

 

“Hey, where are you going?”

 

“You know we’re not allowed to go in the forest!”

 

Yoobin whipped around. “I know, but Yoohyeon’s in there and if none of you are going to stop being useless and go get her, then I will,” she bit out, ignoring their offended expressions and turned back to the forest before storming inside.

 

She walked for about two minutes before the leaves of the trees were so thick it blocked out the sun completely. She had to strain her eyes to see along the path and tripped over a loose root, stumbled out from behind a tree, and then was promptly knocked to the ground by something barreled into her side.

 

After a quick dusting off of her skirt, Yoobin looks up. Yoohyeon is sitting on the other side of the pathway, doing the same until she meets her eyes.

 

“There you are!” Yoobin said at the same time Yoohyeon said, “What are you doing here?”

 

Yoobin squinted. “What does it look like I’m doing, I’m getting you out of here, come on,” she grabbed for Yoohyeon’s wrist, but the elder snatched it away.

 

“No, Yoobin we talked about this. Literally, just this morning!” Yoohyeon turned around, appearing to be looking for something before huffing and turning around.

 

“Yoohyeon-“

 

“How many times do I have to say I don’t need you to look after me, huh?” she raised her voice, pointing an accusing finger at her younger sister. “I can do that on my own!”

 

Yoobin internally sighed. “I know,” she tried to reason, “it’s just that sometimes you can be a little, well-“

 

“A little what?” Yoohyeon snapped, making the younger girl flinch. “Stupid?”

 

“No-“

 

“Do I need to remind you who gets the best grades in our classes? Or who picked up on French and English the easiest? Do I?!”

 

Yoobin mutely shook her head. Yoohyeon turned her head around once more, scanning the shadows of the trees, and once more let out a frustrated groan.

 

“Let’s just go,” Yoohyeon said, much quieter this time. Yoobin offered her hand again, but this time, albeit a little reluctantly, Yoohyeon took it.

 

They walk down the closest path out of the forest in uncomfortable silence, annoyance rolling off of Yoohyeon in waves. A few times she tried to slip her hand out of Yoobin’s grasp, but the younger only held tighter. She was going to show she cared no matter how unreciprocated her affections were.

 

However, it was still short-lived, because the second they reached the edge of the forest, Yoohyeon yanked her hand away and stiffened. Before Yoobin could question it she follows Yoohyeon’s line of sight and stiffens as well.

 

Because standing with the other three girls in the garden was Madame Dansky.

 

They didn’t move when she looked over to them. They didn’t move when she put her hands on her hips and marched over to them, disapproval and disappointment written all over her face. Out the corner of her eyes, Yoobin saw Yoohyeon throw her a glare.

 

“You two are in big, big trouble.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO! i know i've been ghost on here for a good long time and i don't really know what to say about it other than life got really heckin busy, and i made a lot of changes recently, starting with first i was working two jobs, then i moved into my own place, then i quit one to go back to school and then i quit my second one to get a new job so there just hasn't??? been time???? to do anything really but um i'm majoring in creative writing and literature so i thought what better way to build on my craft then by coming back to writing fanfiction so, yeah! here i am! hope you didn't miss me too much... ahem anyway come you can talk to me on my curiouscat: siyeonsheart for any questions or comments or if you just wanna say hi!

**Author's Note:**

> hello! most of you probably know me for my bts fics, and if you follow them at all just know that no i haven't abandoned any of them, it's just hard to find time to write these days, forgive me. but i have not abandoned any of my other fics, i promise i will continue to do my best to finish them (or start them to begin with...oops) anyway! hope you enjoyed this! i have no idea how long it's gonna be but i have a lot of ideas so i'm gonna go with lengthy and i'm really excited for it, hope you are too :)


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